Categories

Admin

Since we’re already in the southern hemisphere we can jet over to New Zealand, to meet screenwriter, playwright and President of the New Zealand Writers Guild: Peter Cox.

Peter Cox

Peter was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, and studied at Wellington’s Victoria University, where he started out majoring in Physics and Psychology. Eventually he switched to an arts degree in Theatre and Film, and went on to complete a Masters Degree in Screenwriting.

Peter has written a number of successful plays, including The Plum Tree (for which he won the 2002 Chapman Tripp Award for Best New New Zealand Playwright), and Very Lucky People. Three of his radio plays – Dating Service Success Story, Heartbeat and The Swans – have been produced by Radio New Zealand.

At 26 he created and wrote for the 13-part television series The Insider’s Guide to Happiness, which went on to win seven awards at the 2005 NZ Screen Awards including Best Series and Best Script, and was selected for the 2005 INPUT Conference, San Francisco. The sequel, The Insider’s Guide to Love, won six awards including Best Drama and Best Script at the 2006 NZ Screen Awards.

In 2006 Peter received the prestigious Frank Sargeson Writer’s Fellowship, and continues to produce scripts for the stage, radio and television. His recent projects include co-creating and writing the critically acclaimed television comedy The Pretender (2006-2007), and most recently, The Cult, a 13-part thriller/drama, which premièred in NZ in August 2009, and has already been picked up for international distribution.